


The Daylight (Intermission)

by a_q



Series: Lunacy [3]
Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Exhaustion, Gen, In Public, Morning After, Other, Rain, Sleep Deprivation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-25
Updated: 2012-01-25
Packaged: 2017-10-30 03:06:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/327083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_q/pseuds/a_q
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everything is different in the morning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Daylight (Intermission)

”Are you still cold?” Raven asked, adding sugar in her tea. The little tea shop was full. It rained outside, a gray curtain drawn over the town. Charles had insisted that they leave the village at once, and Raven had agreed, even though it made no sense to take the cab when they could've waited for an hour to take the bus, and save the money. It also meant that they had extra hour to kill before the train. 

”Charles? Are you still cold?”

He startled, like he had been on verge to fall asleep. He stared at the cup before him like he couldn't remember how it got there. 

“Drink your tea, you'll feel better.”

“I'm fine,” he muttered. “Just tired.”

The front door opened, people leaving while others came in, filling the room with the damp smell. Raven looked at people, picking up small details here and there, details that could be useful some day. Charles called it mental pick-pocketing, and any normal day he would've made a joke about crowding her mind with worthless nicknack. 

But not today. He stared out the window, nodding off again. Raven leaned to nudge his shoulder and he startled awake. 

“You can't fall asleep here! Charles, I'm worried, what's wrong with you?”

“I've been up over twenty-four hours straight, Raven, and I'm tired. Why are you so energetic? What's wrong with _you_?” 

“Excuse me!” Raven scoffed. “Last night was so amazing, I'm bursting with energy! I can't believe you didn't feel that.”

“Must have passed me by then,” Charles muttered, pulling the cup of tea closer and taking a hesitant sip. “Could you get me a scone too?”

“No, I couldn't get you a scone, because we don't have any money since we had to take the cab as your highness insisted. You don't think I'm hungry? I'm goddamn starving!”

A group of elderly ladies in their Sunday hats turned to gape at her and she smiled apologetically. Charles snorted and gulped down the tea. The waitress weaved past their table, a young woman with a white apron and tray full of empty cups under her arm. Raven felt a twinge of guilt, knowing that they couldn't leave a tip for her. It was a rotten thing to do. 

“Excuse me, a gentleman at the counter asked me to give you this,” she said in passing, sliding a folded piece of paper on the table. Raven looked up surprised and leaned to see at the counter. The door opened again, people moved back and forth and she saw nothing but coats and turned backs. Charles took the paper and folded it open, read it, and crumpled it into a ball. 

“What is it?”

He tossed the paper ball at the table and Raven snatched it, opening the creases and reading the few lines. “What? They are here? Where?” Raven leaned again, looking around. After a moment when the crowd moved again, she noticed them in the far corner, staring at their table. Raven ducked back. 

“What are you waiting for? Ask them here!” Raven hissed and Charles shook his head exasperated.

“No! What the hell for? To talk about last night? Don't be stupid Raven! We can never talk about that!”

The elderly ladies turned again, this time even more riled. “Young man! Language!”

“Sorry, m'am,” Charles muttered and there was a moment of silence, as they waited for the women to get back to their own conversation. 

“But he _knows_ , about us, what we are,” Raven whispered. “I have questions, and so do you, I know you do! And all the answers are right there!”

“No, Raven, I can't, don't you see that...” 

The waitress approached again, carrying plates of sandwiches and scones. She slid them on the table with a practiced turn of a hand. “Here you go.”

“I'm sorry, we didn't order these.”

“The gentlemen at the counter sent them. They said they are headed to London, if you need a ride anywhere, you should go and ask. Enjoy.” 

Charles shook his head at her before she could even open her mouth to say the words. 

“We are not going over there. Or anywhere near them.”

Raven wanted to offer another point to this and Charles shook his head again before she could speak. 

“And don't say money. Or curiosity. Just...Don't.”

“Fine! I'm going to eat all this food then, and you can't have any because you are such a B-I-T-C-H,” Raven said low so that the old ladies wouldn't hear her. 

“Doesn't matter. He's sending more over in ten minutes,” Charles said, rubbing the spot over his left eye, the one that meant that he heard too much. Raven felt sorry for him, but barely. 

“You can hear them, but I can't. It's not fair Charles!”

“Trust me, you don't want to know. Their thoughts are not as polite as their manners,” Charles muttered. Raven rolled her eyes at him, and took two small sandwiches and squashed them together, scarfing it down. She swallowed hurriedly when she realized something. 

“Wait a minute. Why they send over notes and food? Why won't they just come here?”

“They can't. There are rules, apparently. The other one wants to break them and the other tries to talk him out of it. I think it would be best if we leave now, before they agree one way or another,” Charles said quietly, buttoning up his wool coat. 

“What rules? And breaking them how?” Raven asked, piling the sandwiches to a napkin and stuffing the bundle to her jacket pocket. The old ladies threw disapproving looks at her, but she didn't care. She was hungry, and she wasn't going to let this food go to waste. 

“It's the morning after. We shouldn't speak with them, I don't understand why. Not all their thoughts are in English, but it has something to do about promising, or claiming, or an oath. It will be a serious thing if we speak with them today. Especially if we tell them our names, the other one thinks they should trick us. So we could't leave them.”

“That doesn't sound good,” Raven said, glancing sideways. The men stared at their direction, and when they noticed Raven looking, the younger one flashed a bright smile at her. Raven turned quickly back to Charles. “So we should never see them again, for our own safety, is that's what this is about?”

Charles just shook his head, looking alert and scared for a moment, then he grabbed her arm and pulled her along, out the door, into the empty street. The rain muffled everything, covered the houses into obscure shapes. Raven pulled the hood over her head, but it was only a gesture, they would be soaking wet before they would get to the train station. 

They stopped for a moment under a doorway leading to a butcher shop. Raven brushed her wet hair from her eyes. “Charles, what happened in there?”

“I'm not sure, Raven. I just got this feeling that...” He went quiet, eyes distant, like he had forgotten that he had started the sentence. 

“Charles?”

“That we were in some kind of danger. I don't know. I can't concentrate on anything! My mind is just...wide open, thoughts flow in and out, I can't even tell what is my mind and what is somebody else!”

Raven wrapped her arms around him and let him lean on her. “Shh, it's alright. This always happens when you don't sleep proper. You get paranoid and loopy. You can sleep in the train and then you'll be fine again.” 

“We can take you where ever you want to go, the car is right there,” someone said behind her and Raven turned to look. It was him again, the tall, older one, holding a black umbrella. His coat was gray wool, the color of the rain. “We would hate to see you catching the cold. Get in the car.”

Raven was about to say no thank you, when Charles pressed his hand over her mouth. _Don't speak to him, don't look at him, nothing._ His warning felt serious and urgent in Raven's mind. _He has no hold on us, if we don't acknowledge him. We need to get away._

“Let's go,” Raven muttered, taking a hold of Charles' hand and dashing back to the street. They crossed to the other side, and Raven heard the man whistle after them, a strange, lewd gesture. 

“You can't deny yourself anymore, there's no point in hiding! We will find you again. We will always find you, little omegas!” 

Charles squeezed her hand tighter and they walked forward, without looking back.


End file.
